Aviation was never cheap, and it never will be. It will only become more expensive over time. Your job as a pilot is to investigate, prepare, and implement. With a little research and commitment you can save hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars during your training. Here are some secrets that are guaranteed to work:

1. Study on your own! This is number one in the list of money saving strategies. Virtually all of the conceptual material that your instructor will teach can be learned by yourself, at home. That is the bottom line. You can study by yourself or you can pay someone else an hourly rate to spoon feed you. Imagine, for example, that you have gone through all the lessons in the the Online Ground School. You have not spent one cent – no books, no CDs, no extra fees of any type. But you have applied yourself and have really learned the material provided online. When you meet your instructor, you will already OWN valuable knowledge – that’s right, it's yours forever – that he was expecting to charge you several hundred dollars for. You have given yourself a HUGE head start while substantially reducing the amount of money you will pay for training.

2. Begin studying for your FAA Knowledge Test early. Do not put it off or it will become a psychological obstacle. Be assertive and attack it from the beginning. You will get the added bonus of learning material that you can apply in the air during the flight portion of your training. This, in turn, will reinforce the knowledge and help you make a better score on your written test.
    

3. Print off a copy of the PTS (Practical Test Standards) and get familiar with it right now. Do not buy one - you can download the PTS free from the Library page. It lists all the maneuvers that you will encounter in training and describes in detail how well you must perform them. Go over it with a high-lighter. If you find the document too confusing, ask your instructor to help you. You want to ensure that every bit of training you receive has the PTS in mind. It is the "guide" that your examiner will use on your checkride.
    

4. After each flight lesson, go home and "armchair fly" the lesson all over again. This is crucial to speedy, efficient training. Failure to do this will result in extra time in the air with your instructor.
    

5. Once your instructor has cleared you to preflight the airplane alone, begin doing so. Why pay your CFI to simply stand there and watch you preflight? Arrive a few minutes early, follow the checklist, be careful and consistent, and save yourself $5-$10 on every flight lesson!
    

6. On every solo flight, go with a plan already made up. Otherwise, you will spend extra time in the air. If you plan to work on slow flight and steep turns, write down the specs for these from the PTS before you leave. Take off and get right to it. Practice the maneuvers with the PTS tolerances in mind. (Now, there is nothing really wrong with spending extra time in the air. After all, flying is flying. But this document explains how to save money. So, fly efficiently and get the airplane back on the ground.)
    

7. Never tell yourself that you cannot do something. Think of yourself as a success. There is nothing about flying that you cannot master with a little effort. Allow yourself to make mistakes - they are part of the learning process.